Many users have recently complained that they were unable to play Counter Strike Global Offensive game in their Steam application. This happened because VAC was unable to verify the game session on their system. Incidentally, this was thought to be an application error but it wasn’t the case.
This error might have occurred because the Steam application did not have admin privileges. It can also occur if the game was incorrectly installed or corrupted. Conflicts from third party applications were found to be the cause as well.
How to Fix VAC was Unable to Verify Game Session for CSGO?
Mostly, VAC was unable to verify your game session because it couldn’t verify the game files in the system. However, this can be easily fixed by following any or all the methods provided below. Hence, go through these effective methods carefully.
Method 1 – Run Steam as Administrator
To begin with, make sure that the Steam application has admin privileges. Therefore, you need to run it as an Administrator. You can follow the instructions provided below to grant admin privileges on Startup.
- First, exit the Steam application if it is running in the background. You can do this from the System tray. Right-click on the Steam application and click on Exit or Quit.
- Next, go to the Steam application icon on your desktop or from the Start menu. Right-click on it and select Properties.
- Head over to the Compatibility section and click on ‘Run as Administrator’ option. Save your changes and close the current window.
Now, launch the Steam application and start CSGO. Check if you’re still facing the problem or not.
Method 2 – Verify Game Integrity
As stated earlier, VAC was unable to verify the game session. Therefore, you need to verify the game’s integrity by following the given instructions.
- Launch the Steam application and go to the Game Library.
- Now, select and right-click on the CSGO application. Subsequently, click on Properties.
- Next, go to the Local Files tab and click on ‘Verify Integrity of Game Files’. Finally, save your changes and close the window. Run the game once again and hopefully your problem should be resolved.
Method 3 – Clear Steam Cache
If you’re still facing the error, then you can try to fix it by clearing Steam’s cache files. Hence, go through the steps stated in the following section.
- Open the Steam application and go to Preferences.
- Thereafter, go to the Download section. Here, you will see a list of all the games you have bought and downloaded.
- Next, click on the Clear Cache option and restart the application. Thereafter, launch your game and check if the problem still persists.
Method 4 – Delete Workshop Folder
According to some users, this error was occurring due to a corrupted game folder. Therefore, you can delete this folder to fix the issue. If the game starts successfully, this will be automatically created. Thus, follow the instructions provided in the section below.
- First, exit the Steam application from your system. Thereafter, press Windows + E buttons on your keyboard at the same time. After that, click on C: from the left menu pane.
- Next, navigate to the following file location.
- Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Counter Strike Global Offensive\csgo\maps
- Here, you need to locate and delete the Workshop folder. Thereafter, close the current window and start the Steam application. Run CSGO and check if the issue has been fixed.
Method 5 – Remove Third-Party Software
As per Steam’s findings, there was some software that can openly conflict with the application. Thus, you may get the error VAC was unable to verify the game session. Follow the steps provided below to uninstall such software.
- Press Windows + R buttons from your keyboard at the same time. Next, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ in the Run dialog box.
- Here, you will see a list of all the installed applications of your system. Find and uninstall the following list of programs.
- CCleaner
- Cheat Engine
- DLL Injectors
- Hypervisors
- IObit Start Menu 8
- Powershell
- Process Hacker
- Sandboxie
- Steam Idlers
- After uninstalling these programs, restart your computer. Thereafter, launch Steam and try to run the game. Check if you are able to play the game normally or not.
Method 6 – Disable Firewall and Security Software
Sometimes, firewall or security software can conflict with Steam as well. Therefore, disabling them may help you to fix this problem. Hence, go through the steps provided below to disable firewall and security software.
Firewall
- Press the Windows logo button on your keyboard. Type ‘windows firewall’ and press Enter.
- Click on ‘Turn Firewall on or off’ from the left-hand side. Thereafter, choose both the options to turn Firewall off.
- Save your settings and close the window.
Security Software
- Navigate to the System tray located on the bottom-right of your screen. Right-click on the security software and choose Disable option.
- Now, a window should appear asking to specify the time period. Choose the amount of time you want it to be disabled and save your changes.
- Finally, launch the game and check if VAC was still unable to verify the game session.
Method 7 – Reinstall CSGO and Steam
As a last resort, you can try to reinstall the CSGO and Steam application to fix this issue. Hence, go through the steps provided below.
- First, launch Steam and head over to the Library. Here, right-click on CSGO and select Uninstall.
- Follow the instructions on your screen to delete the game from your library. Next, navigate to the following directory and delete the Counter-Strike folder.
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common
- Now, press the Windows button along with the letter ‘R’ from your keyboard. Then, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ and press Enter.
- Locate Steam from the list of programs and right-click on it. Choose Uninstall and follow the instructions that follow. Thereafter, restart your system.
- After the computer boots up, open any web browser and visit Steam’s official website. Download the latest version of Steam for your operating system. Right-click on the file and run it as an Administrator. Finally, follow the on-screen instructions to install it in your system.
After Steam has been installed, login to your Steam account. Now, go to the Library and you should see CSGO. Select it and choose the Install option. After that, the game will be downloaded and installed on your system. Launch the game and you should not face the VAC error.
Conclusion
In summary, the methods provided above should help you to fix ‘VAC was unable to verify the game session’ error. Usually, running Steam as an Administrator or verifying game files should resolve the problem. Additionally, make sure you do not have the third-party software in your system as they can conflict with the game and hence cause this problem.